1. Respect the Process

It is easy to watch a movie. All you have to do is start the movie. And then sit down and watch.

But it is actually really hard to make a movie. It takes work. A lot of it. It can take years to move from nothing to script. And then even more time to go from script to screen.

Most people don’t care about the credits because they just want entertainment. But if someone wanted to make movies one day, it is important to understand the process of actually making the movie.

My old professor wanted us to realize that making a movie is not easy. He wanted us to realize that the process of making the movie was difficult. But possible.

He believed that students in a film class needed to respect the process that went into making the movie.

The credits allow us to get a glimpse into the amount of work that it took to create the movie.

If you respect the process, you will be more successful when you have to go through the process.

2. Respect the People

“Men are respectable only as they respect.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Most people have no idea what it takes to make a movie.

Once I started going behind the scenes during production, I remember thinking: I had no idea that movies required this much manual labor.

A name in the credits is not just a name. Each name represents a person who did a lot of work. That name represents a person, doing a job, who has dreams, goals, hopes, fears, and desires.

And each name in the credits — for the few seconds that you see it — stands for a person who did some part of the process.

My old professor wanted us to respect these people. They were doing what some of the class wanted to do someday.

And every process must have people, or else the process would not work. The process is important but the people drive the process.

If you respect the people who put in the work, those type of people will be attracted to you. They will want to work with you.

3. This Article Isn’t Really About Movies

“How you do anything is how you do everything.”

— Dr. Eric Thomas

In case you have not figured it out yet, this article is not about movies.

Not many of us want to make movies. But we all want to do something.

Do you respect the process and the people who are further along than you?

Do you even recognize what it takes to achieve what you want to achieve?

I guarantee you this about whatever you want to achieve: there is a process to follow, and there are people that are needed for that process.

Don’t be the aspiring writer who never buys other writers’ books.

Don’t be the aspiring salesman who only wants to make the sale and does not care about what happens to the customer.

Don’t be the student who just wants the grade and does not care about what is truly learned.

So do not disrespect the process and the people by never paying any attention to them until you need something. Give the respect now. Pay attention. See what it takes.

Watching the credits of movies — and the equivalent for anything else — can be a catalyst for what you want to achieve in life.

Respect What You Want to Attract

“What you have at the moment you have attracted by the person you have become.”

— Jim Rohn

Watching the credits to movies is about paying respect to the people and the process behind the scenes.

But it also has taught me other lessons.

We need to respect what we want to attract.

I always read the acknowledgments section of a book. I want to know who the author wants to thank.

I pay attention to the team behind successful leaders. Often the leader could not achieve anything without the people who support the vision.

And don’t forget: you paying respect to the people and process is really about recognizing the foundation of what you want to achieve.

Without a strong foundation, we can never rise.

The people around us will follow our lead. I took my three oldest kids to see Pixar’s Coco. After half of us cried at the end — I won’t tell you who — two of my kids got up to leave the theater. But my oldest daughter told us to stop. She wanted to watch the credits.